Joe Defranco
In really basic, general terms, would you say that for training athletes in all nonendurance sports, the goal is to get them strong and then get them fast and then repeat? Obviously, you’d be focusing on other things like flexibility, conditioning, coordination throughout but for the most part, it’s strength.speed.repeat? Thanks
My answer depends on the level of athlete you’re referring to.
If you’re referring to 99% of the grade school and high school population, then my answer is, “YES, strength builds the foundation for speed.” There is no question in my mind that this is the way to go.
I have wasted way too much time and energy focusing on speed training with athletes that are just too damn weak to hold the proper positions required to sprint efficiently. Finally I stopped listening to the ‘experts’ and went with my gut feeling. My gut feeling was that if I could get these kids stronger, they would physically be able to get into the positions that I was teaching. Once I focussed on getting this “general population” stronger, teaching speed became easier and my results got MUCH better. This is when I started to develop a “name” for myself in my area.
The problem most young coaches make is that they will follow advice that doesn’t pertain to their athletes…I have seen way too many coaches follow the “New England Patriots” strength program with their high school football team; or they follow the “same” speed training philosophy that Charlie Francis used to train Ben Johnson, blah, blah, blah.
I have to let these coaches in on a little secret…your high school team is not the New England Patriots and no one on your team is as fast as Ben Johnson. Every young kid that enters your program is going to need to get stronger…and getting stronger for young athletes is EXTREMELY valuable to almost ALL other aspects of performance during that stage of their career. I know this because I have seen it time and time again for over 10 years.
My main point here is that I feel most coaches should worry more about the 99% of the population that they are going to deal with…not the 1%. FYI, below is a video of the 1%. Deon Anderson was 1 of 2 athletes to ever show up at my doorstep “strong enough”. Deon entered my program squatting 600 lbs. (easy) and benching over 400 lbs. For a guy like this, speed training & sprint mechanics took precedence over getting stronger when he was training for the Combine. If our only goal was to keep getting him stronger, he wouldn’t have done as good as he did at the Combine and who knows what would have happened with his career.
The moral of the story is to know the level of the athlete that you’re dealing with…and don’t randomly take advice from coaches if their clientelle is different then yours!
Mr. Defranco, your results cannot be understated. I have a question for you. Have you ever found that some athletes actually became so strong that additional strength wouldn’t improve their jumping and running abilities, in fact decreased them? Many authors claim that once the athletes squat 1.5-2 times bodyweight more emphasis should be put on explosive training.
Yes, once an athlete achieves a certain level of strength, future gains in strength will not necessarily result in faster sprints or higher jumps. Unfortunately, when some coaches read a statement like this, they down-play the role of strength with ALL athletes. (Most coaches who work mostly with high school athletes will never encounter an athlete like this.)
As I’ve stated before, in my 10 years as a professional in this field, only TWO athletes have entered my program “strong enough” – Miles Austin & Deon Anderson. Miles squatted 515 lbs. (as a wide receiver) & Deon squatted 635 lbs. (as a fullback), yet both were considered “slow” for their position by NFL scouts. If I focussed on getting them stronger, their 40-yard dash times wouldn’t have improved. Sprinting (and diet) took precedence over lifting for these guys. Now this doesn’t mean we neglected their strength, but the lifting workouts were designed around their running workouts.
FYI, I don’t have any “hard” rules regarding when an athletes should focus more on strength or speed, etc. Many coaches will say once an athlete squats 1.5X his bodyweight, no more strength is needed. I take each athlete as an individual. I compare their 1RM in the squat to their vertical jump, 10-yard sprint time, 40-yard sprint time, bodyweight, etc. After an athlete trains with us for a week or 2 and we gather all of the important indicators, we make a decision as to where the emphasis needs to be placed in his/her training.